Filmmaker Magazine » Productionhttp://filmmakermagazine.com
The Official Blog of Filmmaker MagazineTue, 31 Mar 2015 21:06:54 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0.1What Does It Mean to be a Producer?http://filmmakermagazine.com/93430-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-producer/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/93430-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-producer/#commentsWed, 11 Mar 2015 22:40:48 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=93430Alongside her current Kickstarter campaign for Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck’s God Bless the Child, producer Laura Heberton pens this guest essay for Filmmaker reflecting on the many different ways one can be a film producer in our Internet age. Both God Bless the Child and another picture produced by Heberton, Alison Bagnall’s Funny Bunny, premiere at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival. This coming Friday, at about 2 o’clock in the morning, I will finally get to meet, in some (probably nondescript) lobby of a hotel in Austin, Robert Machoain and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck — in person and for the very […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/93430-what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-producer/feed/1For Your Film Set or Living Room, Dean Fleischer-Camp’s “Hyper-Generic” Prop Postershttp://filmmakermagazine.com/93149-for-your-film-set-or-living-room-dean-fleischer-camps-hyper-generic-prop-posters/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/93149-for-your-film-set-or-living-room-dean-fleischer-camps-hyper-generic-prop-posters/#commentsMon, 02 Mar 2015 15:00:29 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=93149When, in 2013, I spoke to Dean Fleischer Camp about his exquisitely deadpan web series, Catherine, created with Jenny Slate, I immediately wanted to know about its production design. How did he come up with its uncannily bland, generically discomforting visual spaces? The director told me that his inspirations included the ’90s TV show Kids in the Hall as well as Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom, but that part of the show’s visual aesthetic came from the porn-movie sets he was renting as a location. Now, Camp writes with word of a new project that furthers the aesthetic he’s been […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/93149-for-your-film-set-or-living-room-dean-fleischer-camps-hyper-generic-prop-posters/feed/1Filmmakers, Learn How the FAA Plans to Regulate Drone Filmmakinghttp://filmmakermagazine.com/93127-faa-proposes-drone-regulations/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/93127-faa-proposes-drone-regulations/#commentsTue, 17 Feb 2015 14:00:03 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=93127For over a year the FAA has been fighting a rearguard action against the proliferation of drones. The agency has had regulations in place stating that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) — also called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), or drones — can’t be used for commercial purposes, and they have mostly pursued a policy of “educational chats” for people who have caught their attention (typically videos on YouTube that get picked up by the media). Their bark hasn’t been without some bite, too. In one case they fined a pilot $10,000 for flying a drone through the University of Virginia. Interestingly, […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/93127-faa-proposes-drone-regulations/feed/0Kit: 10 Favorite Tech Innovations of 2014 (And Perhaps 2015)http://filmmakermagazine.com/93000-kit-10-favorite-innovations-2014-and-perhaps-2015/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/93000-kit-10-favorite-innovations-2014-and-perhaps-2015/#commentsMon, 09 Feb 2015 10:04:36 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=93000I fall into that category of independent filmmaker who, as the need exists, writes, produces, directs, shoots, records sound, edits, even grades their own footage. (What we used to call color correction.) Then again, often times I’m “just” the DP. 2014 was my busiest year ever, and at some point I found myself taking on each of these basic roles. As a result, the scope of my “kit” is necessarily broad, encompassing both production and post. (Kit is a Britishism for one’s working collection of gear, a name I intend to lend to a series of brief tech reviews in […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/93000-kit-10-favorite-innovations-2014-and-perhaps-2015/feed/1At Sundance Producers Brunch, Mark and Jay Duplass Offer Ten Pieces of Advice for Making Movies Todayhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/92716-at-sundance-producers-brunch-mark-and-jay-duplass-offer-ten-pieces-of-advice-for-making-movies-today/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/92716-at-sundance-producers-brunch-mark-and-jay-duplass-offer-ten-pieces-of-advice-for-making-movies-today/#commentsSun, 25 Jan 2015 21:53:40 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=92716Keynote speakers at today’s Producers Brunch at the Sundance Film Festival, independent powerhouses Jay and Mark Duplass issued a passionate and witty call to all the producers in the jam-packed house: keep making small movies. At an event that saw their own producing partner, Stephanie Langhoff, receive the Sundance Institute Red Crown Producers Award, they told producers to learn from their own decision to stay invested in the independent sector after receiving a measure of larger Hollywood success. Along with Sundance Dramatic Competition entry The Bronze, which Langhoff produced, the Duplass Brothers have, as executive producers,two other productions at the […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/92716-at-sundance-producers-brunch-mark-and-jay-duplass-offer-ten-pieces-of-advice-for-making-movies-today/feed/7Has Rode Solved the Curse of Wireless Mics?http://filmmakermagazine.com/92625-has-rode-solved-the-curse-of-wireless-mics/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/92625-has-rode-solved-the-curse-of-wireless-mics/#commentsSat, 24 Jan 2015 15:00:42 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=92625I’ve been using wireless microphones for years. Even if you’re doing an interview with someone ten feet away from the camera, it’s just so much easier to use a wireless mic than have to deal with cables running everywhere. But one of the dirty secrets of wireless mics has been that they have been using open spectrum which wasn’t officially designated for that purpose. Fifteen years ago, when I bought my first wireless system, it was a Sony unit operating in the 700 MHz spectrum. Then in 2007, with the transition to digital television, the FCC went and reorganized the […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/92625-has-rode-solved-the-curse-of-wireless-mics/feed/1Producers, Rework Your Budgets: SAG-AFTRA Ups Low-Budget Contracts 25%http://filmmakermagazine.com/88949-producers-rework-your-budgets-sag-aftra-ups-low-budget-contracts-25/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88949-producers-rework-your-budgets-sag-aftra-ups-low-budget-contracts-25/#commentsSun, 11 Jan 2015 21:48:48 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88949For low-budget filmmakers, the cost of hiring SAG actors has just gotten higher. Yesterday, as reported by Deadline, the SAG-AFTRA national board of directors approved a new contract paying actors working under three low-budget agreements a 25% raise. The ultra-low-budget agreement, for films under $200,000 dollars, such as Dan Mirvish’s Between Us (pictured above), now requires producers to pay actors $125 a day, up from $100. The modified low-budget agreement now has a daily minimum of $335 and weekly rate of $1,166 (up from $268 and $933, respectively). And the low-budget contract, covering films less than $2.5 million sees rates […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88949-producers-rework-your-budgets-sag-aftra-ups-low-budget-contracts-25/feed/6What Revised U.S.-Cuba Relations Could Mean for Filmhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88757-what-revised-u-s-cuba-relations-could-mean-for-film/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88757-what-revised-u-s-cuba-relations-could-mean-for-film/#commentsMon, 05 Jan 2015 15:25:14 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88757My knowledge of Cuban cinema is limited to a handful of films — one or two native productions and works by foreigners like Wim Wenders’ Buena Vista Social Club and Michael Rubbo’s Waiting for Fidel. So my interest was aroused when President Obama announced his administration’s change in policy regarding Cuba. The political ramifications of the President’s policies are, of course, extremely personal for Cuban-Americans, and discussions about the politics of the announcement and human-rights issues in Cuba are occurring across the nation(s). While not disregarding these discussions, I wanted to take a moment to look at the possibilities normalized relations might create […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88757-what-revised-u-s-cuba-relations-could-mean-for-film/feed/6Watch Burst, Celine Tran’s Bid to Become an Action Starhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88825-watch-burst-celine-trans-bid-to-become-an-action-star/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88825-watch-burst-celine-trans-bid-to-become-an-action-star/#commentsFri, 02 Jan 2015 02:02:24 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88825It’s fascinating to watch how DIY production possibilities are changing the nature of the resume and showreel. A couple of months ago we posted this video by Lawrence Rebeiro about how he was able to use a small crew to pre-viz a fight scene. Now, via James Marsh at Twitch comes this impressive fight scene produced by French/Vietnamese performer Celine Tran (formerly the adult actress Katsuni and featured in Gaspar Noe’s episode of Destricted) showcasing her knife-fighting and martial arts abilities. It’s just one of several videos created as standalones showcasing assorted fighting styles and intended to launch her as […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88825-watch-burst-celine-trans-bid-to-become-an-action-star/feed/0Red Giant’s Shooter Suite: Video Acquisition and Image Processing Softwarehttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88568-red-giants-shooter-suite-video-acquisition-and-image-processing-software/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88568-red-giants-shooter-suite-video-acquisition-and-image-processing-software/#commentsThu, 04 Dec 2014 15:33:50 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88568Red Giant have been expanding their software offerings. Well known for their easy-to-use color correction tools Magic Bullet and Colorista, they’ve also built up a wide collection of tools for keying and effects. Their latest suite consists of some new tools and some updated ones and is geared towards content acquisition and initial image manipulation. The Red Giant Shooter Suite consists of the following applications: OffLoad, BulletProof, and PluralEyes, as well as the plug-ins Denoiser II, Frames, Instant 4K and Lut Buddy. I was most interested in the two acquisition tools, Offload and BulletProof, but it’s worth running down the […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88568-red-giants-shooter-suite-video-acquisition-and-image-processing-software/feed/0Watch: Behind Interstellar’s Sound Designhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88429-watch-behind-interstellars-sound-design/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88429-watch-behind-interstellars-sound-design/#commentsMon, 24 Nov 2014 19:39:48 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88429Deborah Stratman’s bewitching short film Hacked Circuit, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year, presents a roving, unbroken look inside the foley post-production process at an LA studio. Along those lines, this featurette with Interstellar‘s Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer, Richard King, provides perspective into the blockbuster’s unusually naturalistic and practical sound effects. To capture the essence of a dust storm, King and his team built a sand gun and fired it against a rusty car; to convey a car ripping through a cornfield, they built a rig and did it for themselves. Just as Nolan eschews green screens, he refrains from the use […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88429-watch-behind-interstellars-sound-design/feed/1Hope for Film Author Ted Hope on Life, Independent Film and Systems Rebootshttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87542-hope-for-film-author-ted-hope-on-life-independent-film-and-systems-reboots/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87542-hope-for-film-author-ted-hope-on-life-independent-film-and-systems-reboots/#commentsMon, 24 Nov 2014 16:00:51 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87542Ted Hope — producer, Good Machine co-founder, and now CEO of Fandor — is no tongue-tied wallflower in the independent film community. Indeed, his passionate commentary, counsel and editorializing on topics ranging from net neutrality to making better films to a “systems reboot” of the independent film economy seem to be everywhere these days. But while his website, Twitter account and frequent speeches at industry events may make it seem that his opinions have been enabled — or at least turbo-charged — by this current social media age, he has, in fact, been lobbing list-driven rhetorical broadsides for years. (Don’t […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87542-hope-for-film-author-ted-hope-on-life-independent-film-and-systems-reboots/feed/4Sundance Announces Creative Producing Lab & Fellowship Call for Entrieshttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88417-sundance-announces-creative-producing-lab-fellowship-call-for-entries/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88417-sundance-announces-creative-producing-lab-fellowship-call-for-entries/#commentsFri, 21 Nov 2014 23:08:17 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88417Over the years Sundance has steadily increased its support for young independent film producers, with the more recently created Creative Producing Lab & Fellowship as loved by producers as the Screenwriting and Directing Labs are loved by writers and directors. (Don’t believe me? Well, here’s producer Gabrielle Nadiq on the program in 2013: “The Sundance Creative Producing Lab changed my life… I have never been a part of a program that was so nurturing, generous, uplifting, and reinvigorating. Nor have I had an experience that so completely broke me down and built me back up as a filmmaker.”) The program […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88417-sundance-announces-creative-producing-lab-fellowship-call-for-entries/feed/0Five Questions for Drone Boning Drone Porn Creators Brandon LaGanke and John Carluccihttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88221-five-questions-for-drone-boning-drone-porn-creators-brandon-laganke-and-john-carlucci/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88221-five-questions-for-drone-boning-drone-porn-creators-brandon-laganke-and-john-carlucci/#commentsWed, 05 Nov 2014 17:49:25 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88221Drones. Porn. Directors Brandon LaGanke and John Carlucci of Ghost Cow Films have taken what might have been a cynical, viral video SEO-mashup and delivered something deeply weird and oddly hypnotic. While Drone Boning features couples having sex (so, yes, it’s adults-only and NSFW), the eerie glide of the drone and the camera’s distance from these writhing lovers make them more like elements in a video art piece than reflections of desire. Filmmaker previously featured the work of Ghost Cow when we curated LaGanke’s short film, Play House, for the Northside Film Festival. When he sent me this latest out-there […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88221-five-questions-for-drone-boning-drone-porn-creators-brandon-laganke-and-john-carlucci/feed/0Afternoon Smackdown: Pre-Vis’ing a Fight Scenehttp://filmmakermagazine.com/88019-afternoon-smackdown-pre-vising-a-fight-scene/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/88019-afternoon-smackdown-pre-vising-a-fight-scene/#commentsSun, 19 Oct 2014 17:54:41 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=88019Action cinematographer Lawrence Ribeiro forwards this short video of an afternoon’s work — literally. Below, he explains how, with a camera and two top stuntmen, he can mock-up a dynamic fight scene. From Ribeiro: Here’s a chase and fight sequence we shot, in five hours, using two top stunt professionals and one camera. In 2nd unit, we’d consider this type of shooting a level above pre-visualization (previs).​​ Previs is​ a critical​ tool​ for designing action sequences. Sometimes all a script will say is, “…and they fight.” So videos like this allow us to experiment with choreography, and save time and […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/88019-afternoon-smackdown-pre-vising-a-fight-scene/feed/2Five Things Tinder Guys Don’t Know about Being an Independent Filmmakerhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87835-five-things-tinder-guys-dont-know-about-being-an-independent-filmmaker/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87835-five-things-tinder-guys-dont-know-about-being-an-independent-filmmaker/#commentsTue, 07 Oct 2014 20:50:43 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87835In addition to being adorable, overachieving independent filmmakers, we (Caitlin and Penny) are both single gals in various deserts of actual human interaction (Brooklyn and Central NY, respectively.) Thus, we rely on our phones and thumbs, through a mostly-unknown dating application called Tinder, to find “love” (or whatever). Here’s a first-date conversation we both get to have all the time: Tinder Guy: “You’re an INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER??! That is so cool! Is that just like, a nonstop adventure of inspiration and creativity?” Uh, yeah; that’s exactly what it’s like. This post is dedicated to you, Tinder Guy. 1) Most of the […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87835-five-things-tinder-guys-dont-know-about-being-an-independent-filmmaker/feed/9Five Lessons from a Ten-Year Film Schoolhttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87543-five-lessons-from-a-ten-year-film-school/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87543-five-lessons-from-a-ten-year-film-school/#commentsTue, 16 Sep 2014 18:19:53 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87543The following is a guest post from 25 New Face filmmaker Jake Mahaffy on his new project, Free in Deed, currently fundraising post-production at Indiegogo. Check out the film’s campaign here, and also see Filmmaker‘s new partner page of curated Indiegogo projects. “How could a man crush a child for over two hours, the entire time believing that he was helping him?” That was a question that formed in my mind as I read mainstream news stories back in 2003 of a failed faith healing. But as time went on, I did more research. I met with the actual man and […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87543-five-lessons-from-a-ten-year-film-school/feed/4IBC 2014: A Big Show for Sony and Blackmagichttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87548-ibc-2014-a-big-show-for-sony-and-blackmagic/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87548-ibc-2014-a-big-show-for-sony-and-blackmagic/#commentsMon, 15 Sep 2014 13:45:45 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87548IBC is the European equivalent of NAB, and one of the few times lots of manufacturers are announcing and updating products. This show has seen some big news, particularly from Sony and Blackmagic. Sony PXW-FS7 Sony made a huge splash with the PXW-FS7. This camera slots in between their NEX-FS700 and the PMW-F5, and while it has the same E-mount as the NEX-FS700 it is a very different camera. Sony has almost completely rethought their design, intending this one for the documentary and news shooter, and focusing on making it shoulder useable without the addition of a rig. The key […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87548-ibc-2014-a-big-show-for-sony-and-blackmagic/feed/1Camera Moves with the Freefly Terohttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87497-camera-moves-with-the-freefly-tero/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87497-camera-moves-with-the-freefly-tero/#commentsWed, 10 Sep 2014 16:52:40 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87497Freefly made a splash with their MōVI brushless gimbals, and now they have a remote controlled car. The Tero is a remote controlled car that has had a “full overhaul.” This includes run flat wheels, larger shocks, and wire rope isolators between the mounting cheeseplate and the car to further reduce vibration. At the recent Massachusetts Media Expo, Dylan Law, the in-house Freefly MōVI tech at Rule Boston Camera, talked about the car and even did a short demo. The car can reach speeds of up to 55 miles per hour and is literally plug-in and go. The car was fitted […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87497-camera-moves-with-the-freefly-tero/feed/0Checkmate Director Timothy Woodward Jr. on Shooting Action and the Futility of Fixing it in Posthttp://filmmakermagazine.com/87486-director-timothy-woodward-jr-on-shooting-action-sequences-and-the-futility-of-fixing-it-in-post/
http://filmmakermagazine.com/87486-director-timothy-woodward-jr-on-shooting-action-sequences-and-the-futility-of-fixing-it-in-post/#commentsMon, 08 Sep 2014 16:15:35 +0000http://filmmakermagazine.com/?p=87486We recently spoke to director Timothy Woodward Jr. about the production of the movie Checkmate. Much of the discussion centered on the Blackmagic Production 4K camera, because this was one of the first feature movies shot with that camera. But in the course of the discussion, Woodward made a couple of observations about shooting that seemed worth highlighting separately. The first covered the continued importance of practical effects, and the second was about organizing your shooting schedule and why it’s worth getting it right on the day. Filmmaker: You did a lot of practical effects in the movie? Woodward: We […]]]>http://filmmakermagazine.com/87486-director-timothy-woodward-jr-on-shooting-action-sequences-and-the-futility-of-fixing-it-in-post/feed/0